Rhode Island CNA Certification — Renewal, Lapse & Transfer Rules

The Rhode Island facts

Credential	Nursing Assistant
Registry	Rhode Island Nurse Aide Registry · 401-222-5888
Training required	120 hours
Exam	Credentia — $165 (written $55 · skills $110)
How renewal works	Expires on a fixed calendar cycle; renew by application. Renewal fee: $35.
Keep-active work rule	You must have been employed as a nursing assistant for at least 8 hours within the prior 24 months in a Rhode Island-licensed health care facility, assisted living residence, or adult day services program, or for a licensed nursing service agency — and have completed 12 hours of in-service training per year at the facility where employed. Private duty employment does not count, and out-of-state work does not count for ordinary renewal. You attest to the work on the online renewal form; renewals are audited, so keep in-service proof for three years (216-RICR-40-05-22.5).
Continuing education	12 hours of in-service training per year at the facility where employed (24 hours across the two-year license period) is part of the renewal standard in 216-RICR-40-05-22.5(E). This is in-service training, not board CE courses.
Who reports your work	You do — nobody files it for you

If your Rhode Island certification has lapsed

The cheaper route — while it lasts

A license lapsed less than two years may be reinstated on submission of an application and payment of the renewal fee, provided you can show the required 8 hours of qualifying Rhode Island employment in the prior 24 months (or recent training and exam).

Past that line

A license lapsed two years or longer, where you cannot provide proof of employment as required by the rule, requires successfully completing the nursing assistant training program and all required examinations again before reinstatement.

Every Rhode Island nursing assistant license expires June 30 every two years (renewals are effective July 1), and the renewal application and fee are due by June 15 — a first license therefore lasts between about 12 and 24 months. Rhode Island licenses nursing assistants (it does not merely register them), charges $35 to apply and $35 to renew under 216-RICR-10-05-2, and counts only Rhode Island-licensed-setting work for renewal; RIDOH has a separate reinstatement route that can accept out-of-state nursing assistant work when a license lapsed while you worked elsewhere.

Transferring INTO Rhode Island

Application fee: $35 · typical processing: About 4 to 6 weeks per secondary sources; not stated on the RIDOH form retrieved.. Must provide out-of-state license verification and a Rhode Island BCI background check (dated within 4 months), and qualify under one of the endorsement routes on the RIDOH application: a training program of 100 hours or 3 months of full-time employment as a nursing assistant. Work-history requirement: Alternative route: 3 months of full-time employment as a nursing assistant in place of the 100-hour training route.. Use the RIDOH Instructions and Application for License as a Nursing Assistant by Endorsement; application fee $35 payable to the Rhode Island General Treasurer. A separate $50 fee applies if you ask RIDOH for a verification letter to send to another state.

The table below is computed for an active aide in good standing, trained to the origin state's standard hours. Your own hours or status can change your row — run the transfer checker with your real facts.

Certified in	Verdict for Rhode Island	Fee	Why
Alabama	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Alaska	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Arizona	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Arkansas	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
California	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Colorado	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Connecticut	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Delaware	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
District of Columbia	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Florida	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Georgia	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Hawaii	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Idaho	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Illinois	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Indiana	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Iowa	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Kansas	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Kentucky	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Louisiana	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Maine	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Maryland	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Massachusetts	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Michigan	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Minnesota	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Mississippi	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Missouri	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Montana	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Nebraska	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Nevada	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
New Hampshire	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
New Jersey	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
New Mexico	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
New York	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
North Carolina	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
North Dakota	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Ohio	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Oklahoma	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Oregon	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Pennsylvania	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Rhode Island	Same state — no transfer needed
South Carolina	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
South Dakota	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Tennessee	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Texas	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Utah	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Vermont	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Virginia	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Washington	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
West Virginia	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Wisconsin	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.
Wyoming	Accepted — with conditions	$35	Rhode Island accepts active certifications with a $35 application fee, a work-history requirement.

Included in the $39 CNAStatusCheck Kit

The kit carries Rhode Island's full recovery path — the forms, the order to file them, the phone scripts — plus transfer checklists for every destination. See the kit →

Rhode Island CNA certification: stay active, lapse, and transfer rules

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